CMD Wants Unions To Shelve Planned Strike

The Chief Medical Direc
tor, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, (UPTH), Prof. Aaron Ojule, has appealed to the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and other trade unions, which are set to begin a 3-day warning strike, from today to shelve the plan.
Prof. Osule, who spoke to The Tide in his office, last Monday, said strike for any organisation was bad, moreso in a system where essential services are rendered and described the incessant strike ations in the nation’s health sector as very worrisome.
According to him, “strikes are not good for any system at all, worst still for an essential sector like health. We render essential services here, strikes in the health sector should be more like an exception, but unfortunately, what we are witnessing presently is an era of very frequent strikes in the health sector, and it is getting to a very uncomfortable level”.
He said “all stakeholders are worried, we as management are worried, I believe the government is also worried and Nigerians are worried also, “we therefore join the government and the Nigerian people to appeal to all stakeholders to reduce strikes in the sector to barest minimum”, he continued.
He noted that frequent resort to strike actions cannot be beneficial to any body and the cost of strikes is incalculable, “when you think of the lives that are lost unnecessarily.
He noted that health professionals had a commitment to their clients and challenged the health professionals to emulate their counterparts in the developed societies who hardly resort to strikes.
On his part, Chairman of JOHESU, UPTH, Comrade, Kristhien N. Awoibi, while stating the reasons for the 3-day national warning strike, said the issues in contention are “governments” failure to implement the National Industrial Court Judgement, the scheme of services, skipping of HCONHESS salary structure, consultancy status for other healthcare professionals and payment of stipulated allowances among others.
Awoibi said work would resume on Saturday, January 25, 2014.

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